66 Chu Yuk Fun @ Taman Megah PJ

If there's one noodle dish that appeals to the entire family, that would be pork noodles....and that's because it's one noodle dish that's often available in dry-style (kon lo) since my family is not into noodles in soup (especially clear soup).  So, pork noodles is something we eat quite often and each of us has our own personal favourites from the many we've tried. 

And that is what brought us here to 66 Chu Yuk Fun @ Taman Megah to sample yet another one.  I've heard about this place for quite a while from the many food blogs I read (namely kyspeaks, thokohmakan and phonghongbakes) but only visited recently.  Incidentally, the name chu yuk fun means pork noodles in Cantonese (or Hakka depending on how you want to pronounce the three words). Apparently, the owner hails from Bukit Mertajam and they have another branch in Kepong.

I went for the standard bowl of Pork Noodle Soup @ RM11 (for small, RM12 for big) with all the standard porky liew (ingredents) you'd come to expect accompanied by meehoon + kway teow as my noodle of choice. If you're feeling hungry like a wolf, you can get a bowl with all extras (RM16 for small or RM18 for big).

When my bowl of pork noodles arrived, I was ecstatic to see it filled with an abundance of porky goodness like minced pork, lean pork slices, pork liver and intestines along with some greens (of choy sum), the all-important freshly fried chee yau char (crispy pork lard...wished there was more) and a sprinkling of chopped spring onions.

The porky ingredients were all pleasurable indeed with special mention to the pork liver which was cooked just right (still lightly bloody) but wouldn't mind if they were cut thicker.  The minced pork and lean pork slices were relatively tender but lacking that super smooth texture of some others I've had before (coz those were probably marinated/rubbed in a bit of cornflour to make it smooth and soft).  There were also some intestines (single-layered ones, maybe like two only!) but you can't see it in the photo coz they were hidden at the bottom of the bowl (I thought there were none initially too).  I like those multi-layered ones but they (and pork stomach) are more costly (compared to the other porky innards).  Even the pork noodle stall that I patronise in my neighbourhood, when I ask for add-on intestines (at RM1.50), they give me like extra 3 pieces only! >.<

My family's go-to order at any pork noodle place is always yee mee kon lo-style with just minced pork coz they don't like pork innards (my son especially) while my husband do eat some innards but doesn't like pork liver.

But I do have to say that if you want to taste the true flavours of the soup, it's best to have it dry-style coz the soup will then be served separately (and not get masked by the noodles in the soup).  The broth here, made with chicken and pork bones, is much clearer and clean tasting but with flavours of porky goodness.  I liked its lighter flavour but still with that underlying natural sweetness from the ingredients.

And the good thing is that there's a self-service condiment station where you can add-on copious amounts of condiments to your heart's content to perk up your bowl of pork noodles...how wonderful is that!  They have bird's eye chillies (on its own or submerged in soy), fried garlic, chopped coriander (yin sai) and even sambal but no pork lard.  

Here's my bowl filled with as-much-as-I-like condiments.  I was most happy to see the chopped coriander.  I'm not that on board with fried garlic in pork noodles as I feel it's loads better with crispy pork lard.  As you can see, the portion is very generous (even for small) as the bowl is overflowing with ingredients that there's hardly any space left for soup.

We also ordered the Fried Penang Lobak @ RM11 (for 2 pcs) as our side snack served with a nice tangy chilli dip.  The first thing my husband commented when it arrived was the presentation.  It was unlike the neatly arranged lobak we saw in the menu...lol.

But presentation aside, it was a very tasty, more than decent fried lobak which I wasn't expecting really from a pork noodle shop.  Most noodle shops offer these nibbles just to make an extra buck and they're usually just alright to keep our mouths happy while we wait for our main orders to arrive.  Well, this fried lobak is certainly not going to play second fiddle to the pork noodles...I'd be more than happy to order that again! ;)

The Cold White Coffee @ RM4 was just ok for me.  Orders are made and paid at the front payment counter where you'll be given a number to take back to your table and the noodles will be served to you.

The cooking counter works like a well-oiled machine, a production line if you will, where there's at least 3 persons stationed at each production line (and there are two).  The one at the beginning of the line does all the cooking while the one in the middle probably preps the noodles/ingredients to be cooked and the third does the serving.

Besides their speciality of pork noodles, other dishes include bitter gourd noodles (actually the same pork noodles lah except with addition of bitter gourd), fish paste noodles (with or without bitter gourd), Chinese herbal mee sua and pork noodles with prawn.

My Personal Opinion

If you're a pork noodle lover who prefers a lighter tasting broth, then this one will surely please.  Coupled with sizeable portions and a generous amount of porky stuff, not to mention take-as-much-as-you-want garlic and coriander, it's hearty and delicious (apart from the not-so-smooth lean pork slices).  Not only that but you'll be in for a pleasant surprise with a rather good side snack of Penang Lobak here as well.

This is a certainly a decent spot in PJ for a bowl of comforting porky goodness.  You may want to make a visit if you're from that part of town or when you find yourself in the area. ^_~

66 Chu Yuk Fun

11 Jalan SS24/8

Taman Megah

47301 Petaling Jaya

Selangor

Tel: 012-533 2166

Uncle Henry Noodles @ Pandan Indah

Even in my own neighbourhood, I'm slowly discovering some new (and good) eats through food delivery.  Some of them may be new while some are bound to fly under the radar coz there are just so many food stalls in every neighbourhood and we can't very well know them all.

Sometimes I'd even walk pass a stall and not know what they sell (especially when what they offer are not displayed at their stalls in English).  So what better introduction than through food delivery when their menu is displayed for all to see.

This Uncle Henry Noodles @ Pandan Indah was one of them.  They offer duck noodles which is something that's not commonly found in most coffee shops unlike the more common pork noodles, wantan mee, curry noodles, prawn mee, pan mee, char kway teow and such.  So I got myself their Shredded Duck Noodle Soup @ RM11 (via delivery) for my first taste test.

I went with meehoon and the noodles came with shredded duck, pork balls, beancurd sheets, preserved vegetables and a sprinkling of crispy chee yau char (pork lard) and chopped spring onions.  This was clean tasting and really good.

Even better when eaten with their own-made chilli paste.  Their chilli paste condiment looked like some sort of dried chilli paste that some pan mee places offer to sprinkle over your dried pan mee except this one is laced with chilli oil (it's also quite similar to some chilli condiment you get when eating at Hong Kong-style eateries).  It was fiery.....and the bomb! ;)

After enjoying the earlier duck noodles immensely, I went out to get their Shredded Duck Noodle Soup @ RM11 again but with add-on pork intestines (RM5) this time.  The prices quoted here are delivery prices as I can't remember what were the on-site prices when I went out to tapau.

I had it with hor fun (or kway teow) this time though I found their hor fun texture a bit too soft and unable to hold its own as a noodle.  I asked for add-on pork intestines but only realised they were big intestines (which I don't fancy) after I placed my order.  I told the stall owner that I find big intestines too fatty on the inside (and some has an overly pork smell too) and he said that's because they weren't clean thoroughly to remove the fatty bits inside.  He said he will try to give me the tail end of the intestines which have less fatty bits.  Nope, I still don't like big intestines.  The small intestines that I like I was told is called fun cheong (literally translated as powder intestines...maybe because it has some whitish powdery paste on the inside or it's washed with cornflour?).  Well, at least now I can differentiate between small and big intestines by their looks (some intestines may look large by their size/circumference but they're still small intestines but are just multi-layered).

Besides duck noodles, they also offer pork belly noodles (soup or spicy version) and I got the Pork Belly Noodle Soup @ RM10 with add-on pork stomach (RM5) and I had this with yee mee.  This noodle had the same ingredients of the duck noodle with the exception of pork belly slices replacing the shredded duck.

The pork belly was tender but fatty (of course), so I bit off the fatty parts which I don't really fancy.  The texture of the pork stomach slices was cooked a lot softer than I expected it would be.  It's unlike the firmer texture that you'll get in a dish of say bak kut teh or pork stomach pepper soup.

I absolutely loved the taste of the clear soup which had some preserved vegetables in it.  It looks a bit like choy kon (or dried bok choy) except the stems are more greenish and not whitish.  I think this dried preserved vegetable is probably tai tou choy (literally means big head vegetable) which I've seen used to make soups.

After loving their shredded duck noodle soup, I was a bit apprehensive to give their spicy version a try but was encouraged by the stall owner to try as he said many loved it.  So I decided to take a walk on the wild side and went ahead to order the Spicy Shredded Duck Noodle Soup @ RM12 with lai fun (thick rice noodles) as the noodle of choice.

The spiced up soup was probably from the same soup base you get with the duck noodles except with the addition of the dried chilli paste.  They provided extra chilli paste in case you want to spice up your spicy soup further.  I was kinda adventurous that day...you could say that I was flirting with danger and decided to add in half of the extra chilli paste (you can see the difference in the soup in a before and after shot...lol). It was so fiery that my mouth was on fire by the end of the meal...but it was fiery awesome! ^o^

I was glad I gave it a try.  Now I know why many of his customers loved it.  I was afraid to try at first because of a not-so-good experience I had with mala soup that was so numbingly spicy that I never wanted to have it again.  Although this was no where near as numbingly hot as mala, it was still pretty fiery.  Luckily, they were quite generous with the soup, so I still had about half a bowl of extra soup which I could drink since I didn't add extra chilli paste to that one.

I tried all four bowls of noodles with a different noodle choice from meehoon to hor fun, yee mee and finally lai fun.  For me, I enjoyed the lai fun the most with the spicy version and meehoon with the clear soup version.

My Personal Opinion

Duck noodles isn't a common noodle dish we can find in most coffee shops, so I'm pretty happy to have a good one near me.

I will stick to just the shredded duck noodles (both soup and spicy versions) here since I wasn't sold on their pork belly noodle soup nor their add-ons of pork intestines and stomach.  They also offer pork knuckle noodles (soup, spicy and dry versions) if you're fan of fatty, wobbly pork knuckle (I'm not).

For those who want to try their spicy duck noodles but are afraid to, you can always order the soup version first and add a bit of the chilli paste to the soup to see if you can handle the heat.  And if you can, you might just have found yourselves a spicy noodle soup that's worthy of your attention. ^_~

Uncle Henry Noodles @ KW Restaurant

No 1G Jalan Pandan Indah 4/6A

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Hou Kei Yong Tau Foo @ Taman Seraya

It isn't always easy to find something which all members of the family enjoy eating as we all have our preferences when it comes to food.  But yong tau foo happens to be something that we can all agree on.

Since I live near the Ampang area, an area that's synonymous with yong tau foo specialists that three comes to mind immediately, Ampang Homeland Yong Tau Foo, Orchard View Yong Tau Foo and Foong Foong Yong Tau Foo with all of them located on the same street and next to one another (with all enjoying brisk business).

Besides shops that specialises only in yong tau foo, you'll always find them when you see chee cheong fun stalls.  They're also commonly found in many noodle shops too as an add-on to noodles.  It's also a very popular side dish offered by many eateries especially the fried dumpling and beancurd sheets.  Because of the many varieties of yong tau fu one can choose from, you're bound to like at least one type (if not more), so I've not come across anyone who doesn't like yong tau foo. :P

I do have quite a few favourites that I frequent when it comes to good yong tau foo places but there are also some fairly decent ones closer to home.  Recently I found Hou Kei Yong Tau Foo @ Taman Seraya through ShopeeFood to add to my growing list.

For my initial tasting (or more like testing), I ordered the Yong Tau Foo with Meehoon Set @ RM8.10 (Soup Only/Small) which comes with 3 pcs of yong tau foo.

The only thing with the set is you don't get to choose the type of yong tau foo you want, the shop will pick randomly for you....which was fine by me since I'm ok with any type.

I ended up getting brinjal, bitter gourd and chilli which was great since I got different ones from my extra order of yong tau foo of Fried Beancurd Sheet, Fried Dumpling with Coriander, White Tofu and Tofu Puff.

I actually quite enjoyed the very ching or light tasting soup base so much so that I would put a note to be given soup even when I was not having meehoon.

Their meehoon do come with some scant fried (but limp) shallots, so the addition of some (store-bought) crispy fried shallots and a drizzle of shallot oil will make the soup noodles taste even better! ;)

The yong tau foo items had a good amount of fish paste filling that was tasty and my usual favourites always include brinjal, bitter gourd and fresh red chillies.

Of all the yong tau foo items, I'm probably least fond of white tofu (a sentiment echoed by my family too) but this one I ended up really liking.  I think it was the taste of the tofu itself and its smooth texture (together with a tasty filling) that made this differ from the rest I've eaten.

Of course when it comes to yong tau foo, the fried items are a must...and they have four to choose from.  I got the fried fu chuk, fried seaweed roll and fried dumpling with coriander (you can also opt for the plain fried dumpling).

The Fried Fu Chuk @ RM1.80 was savoury and very crispy (but it's unlike those fu chuk rolls you get from yong tau foo specialists).  I initially thought it was just crispy fu chuk but was happy to see there was some fish paste filling inside.

The Fried Seaweed Roll @ RM1.80 was actually popiah skin-wrapped seaweed with fish paste but it had a bland taste overall probably due to the (usually) bland tasting popiah skin.  I would give this a miss next time.

The Fried Coriander Dumpling @ RM1.80 turned out the best.  The dumpling skin was slightly thicker than the norm but it was fried till crunchy.  The moment you bite into the crispy dumpling, you get that distinctive taste of fresh coriander stuffed within a good amount of fish paste filling.

Besides meehoon and rice with their yong tau foo, they also offer plain Chee Cheong Fun @ RM1.35 that's run-of-the-mill in taste to the many sold by chee cheong fun hawkers.

Their chee cheong fun comes with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and some fried but limp shallots.  You can have it with curry sauce and their version is light and acceptable.

But for those who like it a bit more savoury, you'll have to add a drizzle of tim cheong (sweet sauce) to their light tasting curry to bring more flavour.

Sometimes when I order meehoon soup or chee cheong fun (for breakfast), I would even order more yong tau foo items and keep them for dinner later (not the deep-fried items though, that we'll eat immediately).  All I have to do is to reheat them together with the soup given and it makes for a hearty meal at dinner with rice. Their price per piece is also among (if not) the lowest I can find on ShopeeFood (it's even cheaper than some dine-in prices).

My Personal Opinion

Judging from the many different photos, you can see that I've been ordering from this yong tau foo place many times already.  I wouldn't say the yong tau foo is anything spectacular (I've had loads better ones) but it has that home-made taste that I like.

Besides, it's also one that's closer to me that I can order frequently when I want a yong tau foo meal even though I've a few decent ones in my neighbourhood itself but the pleasant and subtle soup base of this one is what sets it apart from the rest.

But, most of all, it's a yong tau foo I'd order solely because of the existence of the fried coriander dumpling (that only coriander lovers will appreciate) since it's not something easily found elsewhere. ^o^

Hou Kei Yong Tau Fu

55 Jalan Bunga Tanjung 8b

Taman Seraya

56100 Kuala Lumpur

Snack Attack - Nuts & Chips from Candy House

Some will say snacks aren't specifically just for the holidays, weekends will do too.....and for some, snacking is for any day of the year...kekeke! ^_~

The name Candy House (from Aeon Taman Maluri) may sound a little off to you since I don't have anything candy or sweet to show you (though they do sell all kinds of sweet stuff like candies, jellies, gummies & chocolaty things besides biscuits, nuts, chips, wafer sticks, marshmallow, preserved stuff and sotong (cuttlefish).

Well, I'm not into the sweet stuff...but nuts and chips, I'm in.  These are just some of my loot from Candy House (Taman Maluri) via delivery (most are priced between RM4 - RM5 for 100g)....Skinless Broad Beans, Roasted Mosambi Isi, Santong Masin & Potato Sticks (Original), the last one was given by mistake when what was ordered was actually Potato Chips (Original).

From this order, the standout was the skinless broad beans (or nuts).  They were salty, fragrant and crunchy...all the hallmarks of a tasty nut (or bean)! ;)  You can also get these with their skins on....now why on earth would someone want to do that? >.<  Why go through all that hassle to have to peel the skin off, just get them skinless and pop them into your mouth lah, right? ;P

I didn't know what roasted mosambi isi were until I looked at the pic in their menu.  They're what I'd call roasted skinless chickpeas.  Ah, another skinless nut that's ideal for easy snacking.  I actually like this one but my husband says it's tasteless (that's because there's no salt). @_@

Santong masin (looks this place like to name their nuts in Malay) are actually those salted, lightly oiled peanuts that you usually find served in Chinese sit-down set dinners for people to munch away while they wait for their food (or friends & family) to arrive.  This one was decent too though the one I buy from the wet market is much better (my husband concurs).

After liking the Skinless Broad Nut from our first order, we placed our second order for the same together with Spicy Groundnut, Curry Chip (Spicy) & Chip (Spicy).  Unfortunately, these three failed to deliver in terms of taste.  The chips especially didn't have that sought-after really fresh taste.

When tauhu biscuits first hit the market, it was the rage (I think it was more than 10 years ago?).  I remember getting mine from a kiosk in Cheras Leisure Mall when I needed something to munch on while at the cinema.  It tasted lightly savoury but didn't what it was then.  Even when I kept buying them (nowadays you'd find it even in wet markets), I didn't know they were made from tofu.  Huh, can make something so crispy out of tofu?  Never mind about the making part, I'll just do the eating part! :P

I've been back for their Skinless Broad Nuts (the best thing from here) a couple of times already but there are still a vast number of items to try on the list.  Some others that attracted me include ear biscuits, kuih bangkit (tapioca cookies), golden pineapple biscuits, pumpkin seeds and (maybe) some other nuts and sotong (cuttlefish is rather expensive though) but I'd lay off the chips altogether.

The weekend is here......happy snacking? ^_*